Lord McKenzie of Luton: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl on behalf of the National Statistician, dated 22 November 2005.
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning how much was spent in net present value terms on alcoholic drinks in the United Kingdom in 1950; 1960; 1970; 1980; 1990; 1995; 2000; and 2003. I am replying in her absence.
	Expenditure on alcoholic drinks can be made by both businesses and households. This expenditure can either be for final consumption purposes or as intermediate consumption. An assumption has been made that the interest of this Parliamentary Question is in the final consumption expenditure of households on alcohol.
	The Question asks for net present value data. The closest we have to this are data based on 2002 prices, which removes the effect of price inflation from the data, using the prices prevalent in 2002. The Question also asks for data in a number of years. The earliest year for which data are available is 1956.
	
		
			 Household final consumption expenditure on alcohol in the United Kingdom (based on 2002 prices in £ million)
			 Year  
			 1956 13,712 
			 1960 15,568 
			 1970 23,360 
			 1980 32,872 
			 1990 34,916 
			 1995 32,577 
			 2000 36,583 
			 2003 38,241 
		
	
	This information is available in the quarterly publication Consumer Trends, which can be downloaded in pdf format, free of charge on the National Statistics website at the following address:www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=242&Pos=&ColRank=1&Rank=422.
	Also included is a spreadsheet showing the above data, and the data in current price terms (the prices prevailing at the time in each period) and a split of these data between spirits/wine/beer. These data are also provided with a split of whether the alcohol was bought in a shop/supermarket (retail) or whether it was bought in a restaurant/bar/hotel.
	
		Current prices, £ million
		
			  Total Spirits Wine Beer 
			  Total Retail Restaurants/bars/hotels Total Retail Restaurants/bars/hotels Total Retail Restaurants/bars/hotels Total Retail Restaurants/bars/hotels 
			 1950 734 494   
			 1956 866   232   87   547   
			 1960 962   285   111   566   
			 1970 2,300 644 1,656 612 200 412 333 257 76 1,355 187 1,168 
			 1980 9,953 2,787 7,166 2,720 864 1,856 1,913 1,115 798 5,320 808 4,512 
			 1990 21,801 6,104 15,697 4,985 1,954 3,031 4,471 2,441 2,030 12,345 1,709 10,636 
			 1995 26,655 7,257 19,398 5,284 2,231 3,053 6,529 2,877 3,652 14,842 2,149 12,693 
			 2000 34,639 10,395 24,244 6,795 2,777 4,018 10,782 4,621 6,161 17,062 2,997 14,065 
			 2003 38,788 12,045 26,743 7,714 3,183 4,531 12,221 5,733 6,488 18,853 3,129 15,724 
			 Constant price (chained volume) measure, reference year 2002, £ million1 
			 
			 1950 
			 1956 13,712 12,673   
			 1960 15,568 13,838   
			 1970 23,360 5,062 18,730 3,968 1,249 2,900 2,374 1,852 458 19,110 2,098 17,177 
			 1980 32,872 6,647 27,019 6,926 1,758 5,553 4,855 2,622 2,111 21,549 2,296 19,474 
			 1990 34,916 7,656 27,795 6,850 2,213 4,786 6,856 3,237 3,482 21,172 2,158 19,285 
			 1995 32,577 7,594 25,306 5,539 2,065 3,493 8,488 3,199 5,343 18,593 2,306 16,405 
			 2000 36,583 10,321 26,296 7,149 2,741 4,420 11,405 4,669 6,749 18,028 2,901 15,122 
			 2003 38,241 11,845 26,396 7,798 3,147 4,651 12,182 5,616 6,566 18,261 3,082 15,179 
			 Implied price index, 2002 = 1002 
			  
			 1950 
			 1956 6.3 4.3   
			 1960 6.2 4.1   
			 1970 9.8 12.7 8.8 15.4 16 14.2 14 13.9 16.6 7.1 8.9 6.8 
			 1980 30.3 41.9 26.5 39.3 49.1 33.4 39.4 42.5 37.8 24.7 35.2 23.2 
			 1990 62.4 79.7 56.5 72.8 88.3 63.3 65.2 75.4 58.3 58.3 79.2 55.2 
			 1995 81.8 95.6 76.7 95.4 108 87.4 76.9 89.9 68.4 79.8 93.2 77.4 
			 2000 94.7 100.7 92.2 95 101.3 90.9 94.5 99 91.3 94.6 103.3 93 
			 2003 101.4 101.7 101.3 98.9 101.1 97.4 100.3 102.1 98.8 103.2 101.5 103.6 
		
	
	1 This is the measure of the "real" level of expenditure removing the effect of price movements (rather than the "nominal" level of expenditure as measured by current prices).
	2 Calculated as current price divided by volume measure. This series shows (in index form) the movements in alcohol prices over time.

Bethlehem

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the reply by the Lord Drayson on 7 November (HL Deb, col. 417) concerning the consultation with Law Officers in bringing the case of the seven members and former members of the 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, how they define a Law Officer; and at what level of seniority the decision was made.

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Who assessed the evidence of the witnesses brought from Iraq for the trial of the seven members and former members of the 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment; who made the decision to pay these witnesses; how much they were paid; and what expenses they were given.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The BBC has responsibility for the administration and enforcement of the television licensing system and TV Licensing carries out the day to day administration and enforcement as agent for the corporation. I have therefore asked the BBC's head of revenue management to consider the question raised by the noble Lord and to write to him direct. Copies of the reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The young adult offenders project will be led by the Director of Headquarters Functions within the National Offender Management Service. It will be supported by three staff and will be able to call on resources for workshops and travel as necessary. It is intended to conclude its work in time for the implementation of Custody Plus, which is at present expected to be in September 2006. Its recommendations will be made to Ministers. Any standard or instructions arising from it will be placed in the Library. The following organisations have been invited to sit on a reference group whose views will inform the project. Social Exclusion Unit of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Trust for the Study of Adolescence, the Prince's Trust, the Community Service Volunteers, RAINER Foundation, Barrow Cadbury Trust, NACRO, Prison Reform Trust, Howard League, YMCA.